Former engineering firm for Stewart-Houston Industrial Park settles its part of lawsuit over failed embankment

CUMBERLAND CITY, Tenn. — A partial settlement has been reached in a lawsuit between the Stewart-Houston Industrial Park Board, and a contractor and its former engineering firm.

Board members voted at their Nov. 29 meeting to accept an undisclosed settlement offer from engineering firm Goodwyn Mills and Cawood, and to continue the lawsuit against Parchman Construction.

The vote, which was 6-2 with board members Cass Rye and Marty Grasty voting no, followed a 45-minute, closed-door meeting with attorney Chris Cravens, who presumably reported to the board about a Nov. 18 mediation effort among the parties in Nashville.

The mediation stemmed from a Feb. 23, 2015 lawsuit the board filed against Parchman Construction, Goodwyn Mills and Cawood, and Merchants Bonding Company over the failure of the top portion of a steep slope at the industrial park's new 54,000-square-foot “spec” building.

In 2011, Parchman Construction did site preparation for the building but after the work was completed a slope at one end of the site failed in 2013.

The lawsuit said Parchman acknowledged the problem but refused to repair it, claiming Jimmy Highers, a representative of Goodwyn Mills and Cawood, "approved all of the contractor's work on the project,” and thus was responsible for the problem.

The board has since severed ties with the engineering firm and hired another contractor to fix the problem.

The lawsuit was filed to recoup the cost of the repairs.

Mark Hicks can be reached at 931-212-7626 or on Twitter: @markhicksleaf.